Turning Points Collaborative

Posted by Colin Heggie on Apr 16, 2019

Kelly Fehr is a City of Vernon Councillor, & Co-Executive Director of Turning Points Collaborative, a local non-profit involved in support services, temporary shelter, housing, addictions recovery, harm reduction, interventions, etc., for less fortunate people. With an annual budget of about $4m, & about 90 full-time & casual employees, they have a big impact on our community. Most of their funding comes from government grants, but there’s never enough money to serve the many needs. A particular short-coming is funding for addiction recovery – an average of 20 people per month are turned away, for lack of funds. Private recovery program costs are measured in many thousands of dollars per week, but more modest publicly subsidized programs, costing much less, are hugely over-subscribed. Turning Points believe a key strategy in helping their clients is to bring services to them, as opposed to asking disadvantaged people to find their own way to services.